China completes renovation of hydropower station on river bordering DPRK

SHENYANG, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday wrapped up the two-year renovation of a hydropower station on the Yalu River, a border river between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), hoping the newly-upgraded facility would help control floods in the upcoming rainy season.

The 159-million-yuan project (about 24.5 million U.S. dollars), which mainly involves upgrading flood control facilities at the power station, was funded by China's State Grid Corporation, said officials with the project.

The company Tuesday handed over the newly-renovated Shuifeng power station to the DPRK, which is in charge of the operation of the station's flood-control facilities.

Shuifeng hydropower station was built more than 70 years ago and remains till now the largest hydropower station on the Yalu River. The dam can hold up to 14.7 billion cubic meters of water.

It has generated more than 260 billion kw/h of electricity since China and the DPRK co-launched a power company to operate the hydropower station in 1955, official data shows. The generated electricity is shared by the two countries.